How Fit Does a Hockey Goalie Need to Be?

There are different schools of thought about hockeyor striding on the slideboard.
goalie fitness. Which school you go to probably- Sprint as hard as you can for 20-seconds.
depends on the type of goalie you are. Filing into one- Spin, jog or stride very lightly for 10-seconds.
school are the goalies who love to work hard, they are- Repeat this sprint: recover pattern eight times for a
the blue collar goalie who wants to be the fittest playertotal time of 4-minutes.
on the ice. I remember one pro goalie I used to train- Spin, jog or stride very lightly for 2-3 minutes of
who would do his entire workout for the day, but stillactive recovery
wanted to go for a 40-minute run at the end of the- Repeat the 20s on: 10s off intervals eight more times.
day.- Spin, jog or stride very lightly for 2-3 minutes of
Sauntering into the halls of the other school are thoseactive recovery
goalies who feel they are more of a finesse player- Repeat the 20s on: 10s off intervals eight more times.
who can stop the puck through sheer skill, fitness is not- Cool down for 3-5-minutes and then complete
their concern.stretches for your hips, quadriceps, hamstrings and
In my opinion, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.lower back. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds.
The hockey goalie's fitness must allow them to play- Total workout time: 40-minutes including dynamic
their position effectively through the entire game. Theywarm-up and cool-down New School Goalie Fitness
must be fit enough to handle unforeseenWorkout
circumstances, such as playing into triple overtime of- Begin with a 10-minute dynamic warm-up for your
the championship game, without losing steam andhips, knees, ankles and
focus.- You can do this workout anywhere - make sure you
If your personal goal is to be the fittest player on yourpush yourself all the way through, do not coast.
team, then that is a personal decision and as long asPerform the following exercises back to back without
your training intensity does not increase your risk ofrest between.
injury then go for it! Please don't train hours and hours- 50 Jumping Jacks
just for the sake of being able to brag in the locker- 25 Burpees
room about how you trained for six-hours per day. All- 50 Lateral Hops (25 each) - hopping from one foot
training should have a purpose and a target outcome.to the other similar to a lateral crease push
The target outcome we are discussing in this article is- 25 Push Ups (go to your knees if you must)
cardiovascular fitness and I would like to share two- 50 Mountain Climbers - you may not be familiar with
different workouts with you. One is a more traditionalthis one but you start in a push up position with one
'cardio training' format and the other goalie fitnessknee bent and the other knee extended. Try to keep
workout is a little more cutting edge by including moreyour hips down as you quickly alternate foot positions.
bodyweight training and exercises requiring more body- 25 Mini Squats in the bottom half of the range. Begin
dexterity. I think both have value, I would include eachwith your thighs parallel to the floor and only stand half
workout each week.way up.
Traditional Interval Workout- Rest for 2-3 minutes between each cycle and
- Begin with a 10-minute dynamic warm-up for yourrepeat the cycle 3 times in total.
hips, knees, ankles and back.- Total workout time: approximately 24-minutes
- You can complete this workout on a bicycle, running- These hockey goalie fitness workouts are intended
outdoors or on a slideboard.for athletes who are involved in regular training and
- Warm-up for 3-5 minutes with light pedaling, runninginjury free.